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We're all ears

26 June 2004

EARLY humans evolved the anatomy needed to hear each other talk at least 350,000 years ago. This suggests rudimentary speech developed early on in our evolution.

The conclusion comes from studies of fossilised skulls found in the mountains of Spain. Spanish and American researchers used CT scans to measure the bones and spaces in the outer and middle ears of five specimens, thought to be Homo heidelbergensis. They then worked out how well the hearing apparatus they found could respond to various frequencies.

Like modern humans, the hominids’ ears would have been sensitive to frequencies in the range from …